Rangel: Censure Is "Too Severe A Punishment"

US Representative Charle Rangel has been found guilty of 11 ethics violations. The full ethics committee will meet soon to decide his "punishment." I say it that way because his "punishment" won't be anything of the kind.

Basically, the house ethics committee can "punish" him in one of two ways. They can either reprimand him or censure him. Jail time or a fine are not options, nor is expulsion from the House, apparently. Rangel says he should be reprimanded, and that censure is too harsh.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45642.html

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) wants the House to issue a formal reprimand — rather than the more serious censure — as his punishment for violating ethics rules.

Sources with knowledge of Rangel’s plans also said the 80-year-old New York Democrat will ask the House ethics committee, which found him guilty of 11 ethics violations Nov. 16, for permission to speak to the full House before any sanction is carried out.

So now we need to know... What is so bad about censure that it is "too severe" for poor little Charlie Rangel?

When a House member is reprimanded, what happens is that the full House votes on a resolution of disapproval for whatever actions warranted the reprimand. That's it, guys. The reprimanded member doesn't even have to be present during the vote. Wow. Our politicians' ideas of how to be punished for wrong-doings are breathtaking, aren't they?


A censure is VERY similar to a reprimand. The major difference is that the member stands in the well of the House to receive a verbal rebuke from the Speaker of the House. Ouch... How could fines or jail time HOPE to compete with THAT for harsh punishment?

So now we see what our lawmakers think is a "severe" punishment... having mommy Pelosi wag her finger and say "you've been bad, so don't do it again."

Look, some of what Rangel did was far more than a violation of "ethics." For example, he "forgot" to pay taxes on property he owned. He "forgot" to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in income on his disclosure statements. If you or I had "forgotten" such things, we'd be facing either stiff fines or jail time. But Rangel is upset that somebody will scold him for being such a bad little boy.

If you EVER wanted to see a crystal clear example of the disconnect between us and our rulers... excuse me, elected officials, all you have to do is look at this situation. We'd be in jail, but a Congressman is upset because he may get scolded.

So, apparently we do have a class-based society. Most of us belong to one class, that of private citizens to whom the entire mass of laws and regulations apply. The other class is that of the Congressmen, who can apparently do almost anything they wish without fear of substantive punishment.

I must say, I view the possibility as a very dangerous one.